Audrey Hepburn is giving me a haircut

ALWAYS (1989)

Reviewed By Jerry Saravia

Cutesy is the name of the game for Steven Spielberg's "Always," an entertaining yet highly innocuous comedy-drama. Though it is a remake of "A Guy Named Joe," which starred Spencer Tracy, it aims to be old-fashioned in every sense of the word though it retains a modern setting and the loud, whiz-bang special-effects of the typical Spielman production. It is hardly a shameful remake, but it is yet another reason why remakes are not always a necessity.

Richard Dreyfuss plays Pete, a daredevil pilot whose job is to put out fires in the Pacific Northwest. His own best pal, Al (John Goodman), is another pilot who is not as daring as Pete. They both joke and bicker in the air and on the land. Pete's girlfriend, Dorinda (Holly Hunter), is the tough, charming forest service air traffic controller. She can't stand the fact that Pete puts out fires when he could easily crash into those humongous trees or lose fuel. Anything can go wrong as proven in the opening sequence where Pete runs out of fuel and has to maneuver the plane to swoosh above the trees and get to the airstrip safely. Dorinda can't stand it any longer - she wants him to teach rather than fly. A tragedy does strike Pete early in the film, as he suddenly finds himself in what appears to be the Garden of Eden with the late Audrey Hepburn as an angel giving him a haircut!

"Always" follows the original model of "A Guy Named Joe" as Pete tries to help a dumb, husky, would-be pilot named Ted (Brad Johnson) become a formidable force in the forest fires scene. Ted has his problems yet he becomes a quick learner, and slowly starts to fall for Dorinda. This was not part of the bargain and we have many scenes where Pete tells Ted, "Hey! That's my girl pal!" Amazing that only a year later, a similar tale called "Ghost" handled such scenes with more dramatic sincerity. "Always" just seems false by comparison.

I saw "Always" in a packed theatre in 1989. Most of the audience responded to it as if it was a comedy. There are a lot of big laughs involving Al, especially a supremely funny scene where he gets dumped with chemicals by Ted on a practice session. Younger patrons couldn't stand the scenes where Pete endlessly talks to Dorinda and walked out. But there are a lot of small, precious moments like a utensil bent wildly out of shape by Dorinda while waiting for Pete to arrive; the mimicking of Warner Brothers cartoon characters by Al and Pete; Pete losing his ability to whistle when he finds himself without fuel; Roberts Blossom as some hermit who can hear Pete and mimics the engine noise of a plane; Ted mimicking John Wayne; and a priceless scene involving Marg Helgenberger (now well-known for TV's "C.S.I") who is attracted to Ted. Lo and behold, we also have an homage to Clint Eastwood's "Bird" with Keith David as another pilot - the homage figures in him laughing in one scene leading to him laughing at an airbase bar in the next scene (a nice bit of continuity).

Ultimately, "Always" is hardly exigent material. Spielberg and screenwriter Jerry Belson adopt a modern setting to an old-fashioned story of wartime morals, values and sheer whimsy (the original film was set during World War II). So we have 1980's characters speaking mostly in a 1940's tongue. In fact, Brad Johnson's Ted looks exactly like somebody straight out of a 1940's pulp serial with his bomber jacket and sunglasses (he would have been at home in the forgotten TV series "Tales of the Gold Monkey"). Pete and Al's antics may not accurately reflect real-life pilots who fight forest fires, but then again maybe Spielberg is not opting for any kind of reality - only the reality of his youth when he first saw "A Guy Named Joe." Yes, it is a fantasy but it acts as if people in the 1980's are still living in the 1940's.

Of the whole cast, only Holly Hunter is in her element as the nervy, harsh though sweet Dorinda who mourns Pete. I believed every moment Hunter was on screen because she plays a real person with three dimensions - she steals the movie beautifully. I would have liked more scenes involving Marg Helgenberger - a stunning presence on screen who proves even more charismatic. Heck, I might have replaced the overbearing John Goodman with Keith David, but only in a better world.

"Always" has enough to recommend with reservations. There are spectacular forest fires, a dance sequence underscored by "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and there is the grand Audrey Hepburn in her last role as an angel of wisdom. Dreyfuss delivers enough laughs and his trademark quicksilver charm to get by in a largely unrealistic role. I just simply wish Spielberg really created an original story, something more imaginative and daring than to revisit the innocence of the past. I was beginning to see such a movie involving Helgenberger and Keith David where risks and imagination would have led to an entirely different movie.